In a blink of an eye, it was February 16th, the day when the Holy Emperor set out for his southern tour. Gu Dingchen, the left-behind minister, led thousands of officials from the capital to wait outside Xuanwu Gate to see him off.
Emperor Jiajing wrote a long poem on the spot (written by Qin Dewei, the palace poet laureate), gave it to the ministers who stayed behind, and went to his residence to inform the world.
There are a few sentences in it: "I must personally examine it, and I will be prosperous for tens of thousands of generations. It is a way to comfort my two relatives that I will be prosperous for thousands of generations. This is a strict warning to the subjects, knowing that I will not wander around. I will inform the ancestors of Tianyu and pray to the gods."
It fully elaborated on the political significance of the Southern Tour and strongly expressed the idea that the Southern Tour was not just a casual stroll on the emperor's whim.
The southern patrol team was large in scale, using 15,000 troops including Jin Yiwei, and 3,000 horses... Xuancheng Bowei wore the seal of Protector General, and Zhu Xizhong, Duke of Chengguo, was his deputy and was in charge of the retinue.
In addition, Xianning Hou Qiu Luan and Dongning Bo Jiao Dong were the left and right deputy generals, responsible for guarding both sides of the team.
And because the journey is so long, all the accompanying ministers are provided with cars, otherwise many elderly ministers in their fifties and sixties would really not be able to bear it.
Qin Dewei, the third-in-command of the Hanlin Academy and the third-in-command of Zhan Shifu, enjoyed the political treatment of quasi-servant minister. He had his own special car and was assigned to two sergeants.
In fact, Qin Dewei, as an energetic young man, prefers riding horses when going out.
But this time the journey was long, and the whole journey was not only exposed to wind and sun, but also tiring. Moreover, we had to obey the unified arrangements, so we didn’t make it special.
Fortunately, as long as the emperor travels, one of the tasks that must be done is to "smooth the road", so it is also acceptable to take a car.
As expected, as Qin Dewei had predicted, this southern tour was too hasty and not very comfortable along the way. He basically had to deal with food and accommodation.
The so-called emperor's palace was basically a temporary hotel or mansion, and the ministers had to make do with accommodation in nearby private houses, sometimes in temporary buildings.
Emperor Jiajing was also impatient. He was in a hurry every day and did not leave any extra time for entertainment, so the ministers could only rush around.
Sitting in the car, Qin Dewei couldn't help but think of the TV series he had watched in his previous life. No matter which Qing emperor visited the South, it was not so hard.
Ji Xiaolan, Liu Luoguo, He Shen, etc., they followed the emperor on their tours, didn't they just travel all the way to the mountains and rivers, and occasionally mix in some heroes to save the United States and fight against corruption?
On the fifth day of my southern tour, I began to miss Mrs. Li who would accompany me every time I traveled, whether I was riding or driving.
But I really couldn’t bring it with me this time. Alas, the trip was much less fun.
Suddenly someone approached the car on horseback. Qin Dewei raised his eyelids and saw that it was Xu Miaojing and Xu Xiaodi. He asked casually: "Isn't it your turn to be on duty?"
The one hundred and twenty uniformed guards accompanying him this time, excluding those who were in charge of flag training on the spot, took turns accompanying Emperor Jiajing in shifts, acting as the last human barrier around the emperor.
If you have to use a metaphor, you can imagine that you are an imperial guard in a soap costume drama, but in fact, you may not be able to defeat the cook in combat effectiveness (Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty witnessed this with his own eyes).
Xu Xiaodi ran over now when he had time, so he must have not been on duty. He said with excitement on his face: "Brother-in-law! Someone asked me to send a message, and I want to get close to you!"
Qin Dewei leaned against the car window and responded indifferently: "From the coast of the East China Sea to the yellow sands of the Western Desert, from the frontier border to Lingnan Baiyue, there are so many people in the world who want to get close to me!"
It sounds arrogant, but it is also true.
But Qin Dewei is still a little curious, who can make Xu Xiaodi so excited?
Logically speaking, Xu Xiaodi has seen the world in recent years. The dignified admiral of Dongchang is a loser and the youngest brother-in-law in history. He should not be excited for anyone.
I only heard Xu Miaojing reply: "It's the Duke! The Duke!"
So Qin Dewei yawned, turned over in the car, found a comfortable position, and prepared to feel sleepy.
For those who aspire to be powerful ministers, the Duke of Ming Dynasty is the mascot of the imperial court. What practicality does it have? Xu Xiaodi still lacks experience. Is this worthy of excitement?
Let’s just talk about that Wei Guogong Xu Pengju in Nanjing. Last year, he relied on Qin Dewei’s help in lobbying to become Nanjing’s Minister of Defense again.
Xu Miaojing grimaced and leaned against the car window to plead: "Brother-in-law, this is Duke Dingguo, the Duke of Dingguo of our Xu family! Just give me some face!"
Only then did Qin Dewei understand where Xu Xiaodi was excited.
The Xu family, known as the first surname in the Ming Dynasty, was divided into two kingdoms, the Duke of Wei in Nanjing and the Duke of Ding in the capital.
As for Xu Miaoxuan and Xu Miaojing, the two siblings are actually related to the Xu family of Dingguo Gong. Of course, they are very distantly related by blood, and they usually stop moving around.
But no matter what, Xu Miaojing also has the surname Xu, and is ultimately a marginal figure in the Xu family.
Suddenly being taken over by the nominal patriarch of the family and almost trying to please me, I felt a little excited like a counterattack, which is human nature.
Qin Dewei sat up again and said casually: "Okay, let's sit together when we get to the camp tonight."
There may be a lot of red tape when getting to know each other in the capital, and there may be political implications to consider, but when we go on tour together, our interactions become much more casual and relaxed.
At this time, another person rode nearby, pointed his whip at Xu Miaojing and shouted: "Xu Miaojing! Who allows you to leave the team without permission and wander around at will? Return to the team quickly, otherwise military law will be imposed!"
Qin Dewei followed the voice and saw that he was a middle-aged senior military attaché. He couldn't help but asked Xu Miaojing, "Who is this?"
Xu Miaojing smiled bitterly and replied: "The governor is Chen Yin, who is in charge of the royal guards." He added: "He is also an old member of Xingdi."
Qin Dewei curled his lips and commented bluntly: "There are so many things in your factory guards."
Eunuch Qin, the commander-in-chief of the East Factory, was busy ransacking homes to make money, and the property of the Zhang family of Marquis Jianchang was too large, so they couldn't be separated for the time being.
This was a big business worth at least hundreds of thousands! In the end, Eunuch Qin sought the emperor's approval and did not follow the southern tour.
Then Chen Yin will be in charge of the Jinyi Guards. When Wang Zuo, the leader of the guards, is old, Chen Yin may be the successor of the Jinyiwei in the future.
It's really subtle that a high-ranking military attache who is preparing to take over the Jinyi Guards dares to look down on the direct subordinate of the Dongchang eunuch.
Qin Dewei quickly switched to melon-eating mode, and there was something good to watch in the factory guard.
Besides, Eunuch Qin refused to go south with him and arranged for such a hostile person to be in charge of the royal guards. It was really interesting.
Xu Miaojing was a little unhappy and complained directly: "He scolded me so rudely, brother-in-law, you don't have the same hatred at all!
At least help me scold you! I can't say anything back, but you can absolutely do it! You can scold me back, but he won't dare to do anything to you!"
Qin Dewei, who was bored during the journey, smiled carelessly: "That's an internal matter for your factory guards. Of course we civil servants are just watching the fun."
Xu Miaojing rode away angrily and returned to the passenger team.
